lyons



2 8heets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

M. LYONS. HAT BOX 0R TRUNK.

Patented Dec. 22, 1896.

"In: norms PETERS co. nucmxuma. wlsnmm'ou. a c.

2 Sheets'-Sheet 2'.

(No Model.)

M. LYONS. HAT BOX' 0R TRUNK.

No. 573,789. Patented Dec. 22, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIcE.

MARY LYONS, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

HAT BOX OR TRUNK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 573,789, dated December 22, 1896.

Application filed July 25,1896.

T0 aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARY L'YONS, of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hat Boxes or Trunks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention contemplates certain new and useful improvements in hat boxes or trunks and has special reference to the rests or supports for the hats or bonnets.

It is well known that ladies hats or bonnets are made of delicate and perishable material, very liable to be injured or ruined by careless handling or rough treatment. In transportin g such goods, whether by delivery-wagon in the city or by rail from place to place, the boxes and trunks in which they are packed are often subject to hasty and unceremonious handling to the serious detriment of the goods. It is also well known that the rests or supports for hats or bonnets as heretofore constructed are usually of fragile material and not of sufficient tenacity to allow of the use of an ordinary hat-pin as the securing medium, and when tapes or the like are used for holding the hats in place the latter are liable to be damaged or injured to a greater or less degree.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a box or trunk with a plurality of hat or bonnet supports so arranged that several hats or bonnets may be easily and conveniently stored or packed within the box or trunk in a manner that will insure against damage or accident by reason of their becoming loose or jolting in traveling.

A further object is to provide an improved rest for a hat or bonnet having substantially the shape of the upper part of the human head, and to which a hat or bonnet may be secured at any point by the insertion of an ordinary hat-pin.

The first object I accomplish by providing a box or trunk with a plurality of rests or supports, one extending inwardly from each of the sides and from the top and bottom of such box or trunk in such way that with a hat or bonnet secured 011 each and all of these rests the Serial No. 600,519. (No model.)

crowns or trimmings of all of them will be nested together inthe center of the trunk, thus minimizing space and each hat serving to help retain the other in position.

The second object I accomplish by forming each rest or support of buckram in the shape of a segment of a spheroid, so as to present a smooth, convex, continuous surface, allowing of the insertion of an ordinary hat-pin at any point.

The invention will be hereinafter fully set forth, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in perspective of my improved hat box or trunk with the cover raised. vertical sectional view with the cover lowered or closed. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view showing a slight modification. Fig. 4 is aview of one of the rests or supports detached. Fig. 5 is a section thereof on line so 00', Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, A designates a box or trunk which may be of any preferred size and shape.

B designates the hat rests or supports, one being extended inward from each of the sides a, one upwardly from the bottom a, and one downwardly from the under side of the lid or cover a which latter is usually hinged at a and when lowered may be locked by any suit able means. Each rest or support is shaped to resemble the upper part of the human head, being dome-shaped and oval in horizontal section. It is, in effect, the segment of a spheroid and has a continuous smooth convex surface. The capacity of the trunk may be increased by extending two supports from the sides a. (See Fig. 4:.)

Each support 13 is made of buckram shaped over a form. It is thus very light and does not add appreciably to the weight of the box or trunk. I use buckram on account of its lightness and cheapness, the ease with which it can be shaped, and its stiff yet elastic quality, which causes it to retain its form. Buckram is composed of two or more layers of tough linen or heavy fabric glued together. A piece of this material is dampened, an-

is placed upon it, then a piece of material which is used for lining the trunk or other receptacle. The three are glued together,

Fig. 2 is a ICO other piece of similar coarse glue-sized fabric and then the whole is pressed into shape with hot dies. The support thus made is then secured in position. Each support has a smooth unbroken convex surface especially well adapted to receive and hold a hat or bonnet. The penetrable nature of my buckram support, moreover, allows a common hat-pin to be thrust through the bonnet and support at any point, securing them together in precisely the same manner as a bonnet is secured to the hair of the wearer. lVhen thus secured, no amount of shaking or tossing about of the box or trunk can loosen the hat or bonnet from its support, and the shape of the support is such that it preserves the shape of the hat or bonnet perfectly. As above stated, each support is made up of a series of layers or thicknesses of fabric, the inner layers be ing of tough linen or heavy textile material glued together, all of which and the outer covering (which also forms the lining for the trunk) are penetrated by the insertion of a securing-pin, the inner layers serving, by reason of their tenacity and elasticity, to firmly bind or hold the pin in place. In consequence when the pin is withdrawn the inner layers of material being of a springy or elastic nature will close up the openings made by the pin, thus not weakening the stability of the rest or support, no matter how often the pin may be inserted at the same point, and insuring the holding of the pin in position. Of course the conformation and size of the support can be varied to suit the taste of the purchaser or the style of the bonnet.

I am aware that hat-boxes have been provided with cylindrical or frusto-conical rings of pasteboard or paper or stiff gauze or gauze stiifened with wire to support the hat or bonnet placed therein; but such supports are objectionable because they do not afford a firm rounded support for the top of the bonnet, and therefore do not tend to preserve its shape. Moreover, they utterly fail to holda hat-pin securely, especially after the pin has been inserted into the support a number of times. Buckram being a textile material it has an advantage over paper an d pasteboard because it is tough and durable. Itwill not tear and is springy and elastic when it has the dome-like form above specified. Consequently if crushed it easily resumes its original form, which would not be the case with either paper or pa'steboard or gauze. It is not spoiled by use for years, as the holes made by the piercing of a pin do not injure it as they do pasteboard or paper or gauze, rendering them useless in a very short time, on account of one pin-hole running into the other. A jar, the jolting of a train, or rough handling in travel will not cause the hole made by the piercing of a pin in buckram to become larger and allow the pin to drop out, because the buckram is so fine, strong, firm, and tenacious by reason of the gummy substance it contains. Consequently no matter how heavy a ladys hat maybe when attached with a pin or pins to the buckram rest there is no fear of its becoming loose or getting detached, and in consequence getting knocked against the sides of the hat-box, which would in all probability be the case with either paper or pasteboard or gauze. Buckram is. readily pierced with a pin, but pasteboard is diflicult to pierce, so much so that the fragile delicate materials of a ladys hat would be easily destroyed in the effort. Paper and gauze though easily pierced by a pin are as easily torn by the pin that pierces them.

The advantage of attaching a hat bya pin or pins to its rest in place of strings or any similar device is that strings attached to the lining of a ladys hat for the purpose of pressing it down upon its rest or holding it in place pull or purchase upon the lining and tear out the stitches. Besides, summer hats are frequently made of transparent materials, without an inside lining, in which case, if strings were used for the purpose of attaching the hats to their rests they would have to be caught onto the perishable materials which compose these hats, and these attachingstrings would tear in pieces the delicate hats in transportation. Again, the present fashion of trimming hats underneath the brim with flowers, feathers, &c., would preclude the possibility of attaching hats firmly to their rests with strings without destroying the hats, as the trimming underneath the brim would be crushed.

The advantage of the shape of .my hat-rest is that no other shape of rest could hold a ladys hat pinned to it as firmly and securely and no other shape of rest could preserve uninjured the underneath or pendent trimmings of feathers, flowers, ribbons, and ornaments of the present fashion for a ladys hat as my form of rest. These underneath decorations rest upon it as they would when on a ladys head. Moreover, the smooth unbroken convex surface affords complete support to the bonnet at all points and permits the hat-pin to be thrust in wherever it is most desirable, even directly in the middle of the crown. The open-topped supports heretofore used do not sustain the crown of a hat orbonnet and do not aiford the same facilities for securing it which my support possesses. A support made of gauze stiffened with wire is entirely impracticable, not only because the gauze will not hold the hat-pin, but because the wire will soon rust and discolor the hat, while any blow tends to bend the wire and destroy the shape of the support. Moreover, the wire frame offers hard lines and projections which tend to injure a delicate bonnet.

The great advantages of my buckram support are its smooth unbroken convex surface, its tenacious hold upon a hat-pin, its practi cal indestructibility, its great tendency to retain its shape, even with hard usage, and its freedom from anything which might injure the hat or bonnet. The advantages of providing the box or trunk with a plurality of IIO rests or supports are apparent. In the first place severalhats can be conveniently packed for storage or shipment, and the tops or crowns of all the hats being presented toward the center of the box or trunk all the top trimmings are brought together, and each hat or bonnet aids in preventing the others from moving or in any way being torn by strain on the holding-pins.

I claim as my invention 1. A hat box or trunk having a lining provided with a rest or support composed of an inner textile material of a springy or elastic nature, such as buckram, and an outer covering of a less resilient nature, as set forth.

2. A hat box or trunk having a lining provided with a rest or support composed of inner layers of textile material of a springy or elastic nature, such as buckram, and an outer covering of a less resilient nature, said covering and inner layers being glued together and shaped into the desired form, substantially as set forth.

3. A hat box or trunk having a rest or support composed of inner layers of textile material of a springy or elastic nature, such as buckram, and extending from a base, and an outer covering of a different degree of elasticity glued to said rest or support and forming the lining or covering for said base, as set forth.

4. The combination with a receptacle for head-gear, of a hat or bonnet support extending from a base with which it is made integral, and composed of layers of springy or elastic fabric glued together, and an outer covering of a difierent degree of elasticity also glued thereto, the latter forming the lining or covering for said base, substantially as set forth.

5. A hat box or trunk having a lining provided with a plurality of rests or supports extending inwardly from and integral with said lining along the sides, top and bottom of such box or trunk, and an outer covering for said rests or supports, each of said rests or supports having an inner portion of textile material of greater resiliency than said covering, as set forth.

6. A hat box or trunk having its walls provided with a lining or covering bulged or shaped at one or more points to form a hat or bonnet support, each support having a series of layers of springy or elastic material, such as buckram, glued together and covered by said lining which latter is of a different degree of resiliency from that of said series of layers, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MARY LYONS.

Witnesses:

OWEN WARD, XV. O. BENJAMIN. 

